Home-Start Oxford is marking Small Charity Week, running from June 22 to 29, by highlighting the vital role small organisations play in supporting communities.

Based in the centre and west of Oxfordshire, the charity offers free, confidential support to parents and carers with young children who are experiencing challenges such as postnatal depression, isolation, bereavement, health issues or disability.

Katharine Barber, CEO of Home‑Start Oxford, said: “Small charities are often closest to the people who need them most.

“We may be small in structure, but the difference we make is huge.

“Every week, our volunteers and staff walk alongside families who are facing incredibly tough circumstances, offering practical help, emotional support and a listening ear.

“Small Charity Week is a chance to shine a light on the essential role organisations like ours play in strengthening communities and to recognise the people who make it all possible.”

Despite rising demand, higher costs and a challenging funding environment, Home‑Start Oxford has supported more than 600 families so far this year.

This impact has been made possible thanks to the dedication of its volunteers, staff and supporters.

The charity is encouraging people to mark Small Charity Week by turning short-term awareness into lasting action.

Ms Barber said: “There are so many ways to support a small charity – from volunteering a few hours, to holding a fundraiser, becoming a regular giver, or simply sharing our work with others.”

The former Top Gear and Grand Tour host purchased Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, back in 2008.

Having taken over the day-to-day operations back in 2019, Mr Clarkson started filming for the first season of Clarkson’s Farm, which was released in 2021.

Available on Prime Video, the documentary shows life on the farm and highlights the plight of British farmers.

READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson bids final goodbye to Clarkson’s Farm fan favourite

The fifth series had a staggered release across this month, with fans able to now binge-watch all eight new episodes.

This time last year, series four had also just been released, and Mr Clarkson followed up the conclusion of this with an announcement on his latest venture.

The 66-year-old has written several books over the years, including multiple which have covered his farming adventures in Oxfordshire.

He announced in June of 2025 that another was set to release later on in the year called Diddly Squat: The Farmer’s Dog.

READ MORE: TV legend praises Jeremy Clarkson after meeting him at Cotswolds pub

The book covered the latest action on the farm as well as his Asthall pub, The Farmer’s Dog, becoming the fifth book Mr Clarkson has written in the series.

Having purchased the Cotswolds watering hole for around £1m, the former Top Gear and Grand Tour presenter opened it to the public in the summer of 2024.

Although no confirmation has yet been made, it is expected that another book will be released this year, following on from Clarkson’s Farm series five.

It has also been confirmed that filming for the show’s sixth season is underway, with an anticipated release date in 2027.

St Edward’s School (‘Teddies’) in Woodstock Road has extended its mobile phone restrictions to its Year 11 students as well as Year 9 and Year 10.

As such the 16-year-olds will no longer be allowed their phones at any time during the week, with daytime access to them at weekends.

READ MORE: Head of Oxfordshire private school defends Latin teaching

This followed a recent survey of pupils which said that four in five feel happy ‘all or most of the time’ compared to three in five before the first phone restrictions were introduced in 2022.

Alastair Chirnside, warden (headteacher), said: “This year’s pupil survey has put into numbers what we have been seeing and feeling for a long time: that Teddies pupils are leading more enriched and less distracted lives without their phones throughout the week.

Alastair Chirnside, headmaster of St Edward’s School (Image: St Edward’s School)

“While we know that extending restrictions even further won’t be universally popular with teenagers, last month’s pupil survey has quite clearly demonstrated that, when asked in private, many children are in fact thankful to be given clear rules on phone usage.

“From comments in the survey, it is clear that many children even feel a sense of relief that the burden of moderating their phone use has been lifted from them.”

Pupils at St Edward’s School (Teddies) in Woodstock Road, Oxford (Image: St Edward’s School)

Restrictions have also been extended in the sixth form with the upper sixth now following the lower sixth in only having access to phones after lessons, before handing them in at 10pm each evening.

The school has 817 pupils with 644 responding to the anonymous survey carried out last month.

Almost half said they were spending more time talking to friends, with 32 per cent noting they were working harder and 19 per cent saying they were spending more time reading.

Pupils at St Edward’s School (Teddies) in Woodstock Road, Oxford (Image: St Edward’s School)

One pupil said: “I believe the no-phone policy has been really beneficial at this school for helping friendships and hobbies grow.”

Another added: “I completely agree with it, and I think it’s an incredible way to relieve tensions and build friendships quicker in the earlier years of school.”

READ MORE: Oxford private school’s restrictive phone policy boosts joy

In addition, Teddies has revealed that – in contrast to wider societal trends – it re-introduced landline phones last September, after 15 years without them.

This was part of an overhaul about its mobile phone rules to enable pupils’ contact with their homes, family and friends.

Pupils also have access to Nokia ‘brick’ phones in their boarding houses, and to WhatsApp, Teams and Zoom at certain times through the school’s monitored network, using laptop computers which are managed by the school’s IT department.